P.S I tried to email you back but it bounced back...maybe your account is full?
I wanted to tell you that I have on the manual the 7124.
ehehe. |
John,
still, Universe is supposed to be better like saying Airy 3 Vs. 4D or Fuji vs. Airy 3.
There is no doubts that one is better than the other, beside they are surely different too.
So all in all, besides the difference the Universe should have still been clearly better.
But hey, people who tried the Atmos vs. Universe had no doubts about it and went back to the Universe.
If it is not the case now, I would say something is different :) .
BTW, I do not listen to test tracks.
But hey, you got to set your system up first, don't you?
As you would say, when I was testing it I just had the cartridge mounted on the tonearm for a week so...it's not like I am still listening to HiFi-test!!! |
Actually, if you re-read this thread, there is only one person who says this....me. I am the first and the second one. Also, if you re-read my last post, you will see that I did NOT say that the UNIverse S-SB sounded worse than the 4D-X SB2, I said they sounded DIFFERENT. The edge in dynamics and speed going to the 4D the edge in sweetness and musicality to the UNIverse.
Which one a listener would prefer would depend on what the listener is looking for sonically. Don't worry about which is best, stop listening to test tracks and just try to enjoy the music. The ZYX 4D-X is a fine cartridge.
Cheers,
John
Actually I just re-read my first post and I did say the 4D was "better" than my UNIverse. That was probably just initial excitement (I'd had it for less than a week at the time). After time to think about it, I feel that my last post is more accurate, they are simply different....that's all. |
Nice system.
Your experience is very interesting.
you are the second one on this post who had a Silver universe and now likes the 4D better.
Too bad it wasn't a Copper Universe so that we would have ended this Saga, where people thing the Amos=4D
I personally don't think so.
I still don't think that a Silver Universe can sound worse than a copper 4D just because it is Silver.
Absolutely not.
Even reading reviews around the world where they compare the silver vs copper, they talk about small differences, perhaps preferences.
True the copper is the most neutral, but I don't think silver makes it slow, less articulate less dynimic.
Anyways.... can I know what is the serial number on your 4D?
I purchased mine something like 2 months ago or so.
So mine is brand new too. |
I have to admit that I'm pretty impressed with my 4D-X. It is the copper version with low output. I've had it for just over a month now, it replaced a low output UNIverse with silver coils, which I owned for 4.5 years. I was expecting this to be a step down, since I don't have the $$$ to spend on a cartridge now that I did in 2005, but I feel like it's a lateral step instead. The copper 4D has better articulation and extension, the silver UNIverse was a bit sweeter in the midrange.
FWIW, my 4D is mounted on a Basis 2500 Signature table with Vector 3 tonearm, phono stage is a Klyne 7PX5. |
Yeah, I know.
That is how they have set it though.
I don't know if I want to change that or not.
I might be in the future.
How do you like your 4D? is it the copper low version? |
WOW! That is heavy! I see the recommended tracking force is 1.7-2.5, so you are right on the top of that range. I haven't listened at that high of VTF, my ZYX 4D seems to work very well in the 1.90-2.10 gram range. Right now I'm at 1.95 grams. I actually just dropped the VTF from 2.05 to 1.95 and it sounds a little better IMHO. |
VTF reading says 2.6gr!! so when the arm rests parallel then I guess it would be 2.55gr or something around that.
I mean, I would have never set that VTF myself....but I guess that this is how the cart performs the best...as it does sound much better though.
I am wondering if I have to change that as the cat ages and how I realize when it is about time to change it. |
yeah, I will use the shure gauge to chek that out....I will do it right now...and get back to you.
P.S. Mike said that most of the time pwople make the mistake of measuring the VTF without having the arm resting parallel but sitting back and that gives an higher reading for the VTF then what you actually gonna get on the real situation.
In this case I will give the reading with the arm sitting a little as I don't want to move the VTA as I don't have the option of the VTA on the fly :( |
Stephanoo-
You should use your scale to see what the VTF is set at and let us know. |
ok..the arm is back...
I had to screw the allen wrench that is by where the wire comes out and set it till the arm was free of moving then connected the lemo connector in and lets go.
The sound is terrific now.
There is so much difference from before that I don't understand where it comes from...just the wiring, the alignment, the proper tracking force...or the twisting...
All I know is that now it sounds really wonderful.
They told me they have set the tracking force up the upper range (which means I think around 2.5gr).
So just to reply to Dough, the sound at this tracking force is fabulous.
There is air, dynamic, there is a huge soundstage back and front.
Speakers completely disappear from the room.
It is really nice now.
The arm is stainless steel and the counterweight now sits a little bit past out the center point of the stub which is the ideal point I think, while before was right by the unipivot.
It is really nice.
I will go and have some more listening to try to compare some well known records. |
I got the stainless steel armtube...the package is supposed to arive this morning....so as soon as I will get it I will post in more details.
k
Anyways, since the arm was there I asked Mike to wire it out with the Nordost wire. |
Hello Stefanoo-
Did you get the stainless steel upgrade or the 3 grams of lead added to the tonearm? I too am waiting for a new arm (stainless steel 10.5i) to go with my Airy 3. |
Arm should arrive this week accordingly to what Mike told me.
So as soon as it will get here i will post impression. |
Mark, My apologies for the mis-attribution, and thanks to Stephanoo for stepping up. Clumsy me. :-( BTW the sound at 2.3gr and more AS wasn't that horrible, I mean it was still great. I just thought that there was a little lack of air and I felt like there was less definition and soundstage less defined ... Agreed. Pressing a vibrating object (cantilever) into an elastomer (cartridge suspension) attenuates the vibrations, and higher frequencies are attenuated the most. Excessive VTF and AS sound a bit like turning a treble tone control way downward. From everything I've read, Mike at VPI has been providing great service for many years . Glad to here they still are. A higher mass arm should definitely suit your cartridge. Let us know! |
I think I was the one saying about 100hrs...so my mistake.
I have read it somewhere but I can't remember where.
Well, the only problem with it was that the tonearm was too light for the combo so VPI which is a GRAT company is willing to help me out.
I am sure everything will work out great and I will post here as soon as my tonearm...ememe....and my ZYX 4D....will get back from the trip at VPI's industries :) |
Hello Doug/All,
I had to backtrack through the entire thread, and re-read all of my posts, and I didn't find where I specifically said the ZYX takes 100's of hours for break in? (it appears I'm the only "mark" in this thread) :-)
I have been a good "student" I think, (you being the teacher of course), and recall many of your comments-reviewz about everything ZYX.
I'll save space about going into full detail.
But it appears Stefanoo has not evidently succeeded in being pleased, as in one of his last posts posts, he makes referral to sending the whole shebang off to VPI, to let them scratch their heads.
All I can say, is I wish you the best of luck Stefanoo, and hope that all comes back OK. Mark
PS Doug: Thank you very much for that very understandable, and logical-technical explanation about the use of such Anti-Skate Tracks. I leaned something new again from the master! |
this totally makes sense to me.
Passing a 14dB track on a certain position of the record cut at a certain speed makes no sense whatsoever.
All in all at 2gr and a little antiskate I can track the 12dB.
the point is though that the next little buzing track would be the 14dB's one.
Now at 2rg I have the left ch left with a little bit of distortion while the left ch has more distortion.
If I were to balance the 2 distortion I would have to increase AS in this case.
Anyways I have contacted VPI and I definitely feel like say how incredible their service is and I strongly reccomand to buy their products for the quality of them and for the customer service.
Anyways I talked to Mie and told him the resonance problem and he told me to send him back cartridge and tonearm and they wull replace it probably with an higher mass (perhaps Stainless steel) orr add weight to it and properly set the system.
They are amazing.
I am going to send the package after 5PM and hopefully next week I will be able to get it back and then I will post the changes.
BTW the sound at 2.3gr and more AS wasn't that horrible, I mean it was still great.
I just thought that there was a little lack of air and I felt like there was less definition and soundstage less defined so I stepped back and that confirmed my impression.
Thank you Dough for sharing with us your kwnoledge. |
You're welcome, Stephanoo, though of course the proper interpretation of those tracks is not just my opinion. This has been discussed on vinyl forums for many, many years. Search the archives if you like, it's all there.
Reflect: it doesn't make sense to use those tracks as "tests" to be "passed". Real music is not cut at those amplitudes and velocities, so why apply so much VTF and anti-skating to track unrealistic grooves? Logic tells us this will result in excessive forces being applied to your cartridge.
You already verified this. The 4D performs best at ~2g and with minimal A/S, not at ~2.5g and with more A/S. You didn't describe how the music sounded at those higher settings but I can: dull, slow, lifeless, fat, no "snap", no pace, no air. Sturdy but stodgy, like yesterday's coffee. Am I right?
So, FOR THIS CARTRIDGE, tracking the 14db band (or higher) is irrelevant. Of course if you were using a super compliant Shure cartridge, the 16 or 18db band would be relevant and the 12 db band would not. If you must use this record to set antiskating, the only band that matters is the one that causes a tiny amount of mistracking (buzzing).
Of course antiskating and VTF are best set while listening to music. I do it every day, but I admit it takes practice.
I agree the resonance frequency tracks will identify a major arm/cartridge mismatch. That's the most useful thing about this record IME. Your results will be interesting.
For me the other bands have no value (the azimuth test band is bogus) but at least they do no harm. That's not true of those four anti-bias tracks, however. Used incorrectly, as so many do, they dull the music and shorten the life of a cartridge. That's why I spoke up.
Enjoy!
Doug |
BTW it is the first time I see this interpretation on these tracks.
Thank you for sharing your understanding.
I will reflect on it |
Hi,
Instruction on the record are poor, that's is true.
Nevertheless I wouldn't say that this record is worthless.
I find the azimuth's track and the resonance test very interesting indeed.
Moreover, I think, and it's been proven to me by listening tests too, that adjusting the antiskate (minimum adjustments) to be able to track the 12dB brings brings up a lot of sonical improvments.
I can't say the same thing for the 14dB though which I had to back up after a couple of hours of listening.
So my understanding is that the 12dB is required to be able to properly track most of your records.
Beside my cartiridge now might be at 35-38 hrs so it is close to the normal behaviour I assume.
I think the matching with tonearm is important and the resonance tests are created for this purpose.
If I have a resonance test at around 15-16Hz, I assume that this should affect the sound and the tracking abilities somehow, and that is what Mike told me right away.
He told me to check it out because resonance has to be around 9-11Hz and he asked me to contact him back after have done certain tests because the stainless steel armtube might be the solution otherwise.
I will keep you posted. |
This thread has gone off the rails...
1. As Myles Astor pointed out, fine tuning a cartridge when it has only 20-25 hours on it is a waste of time. Mark was wrong that all ZYX's need 100's of hours to break in (the UNIverse needs only 50 or less to behave normally), but 25 is certainly not enough. Stop fussing and listen to music for 100 hours or so.
2. Stephanoo and some others on this thread are MIS-USING the four anti-bias tracks on the HFN&RR test record. These tracks are not "tests" that must be "passed". If you set a cartridge to "pass" a higher db track than it wants to, you will end up with excessive VTF, excessive anti-skate or both.
This is a common misunderstanding among newbies, because the instructions with that record are poorly written.
These tracks were DESIGNED to make your cartridge mistrack. The only reason there are four tracks of differing amplitudes is that different cartridges track differently.
The idea is to pick the ONE track that BARELY causes YOUR cartridge to mistrack under normal VTF. Then adjust anti-skating until the mistracking is equal in both channels. DO NOT try to eliminate the mistracking and especially DO NOT try to "pass" higher amplitude tracks. That is a mis-use of the record.
Frankly, I find those tracks and the whole HFN&RR record worthless. I've set up 50 cartridges in the last 5 years, on my table and others, without using or needing it. Throw it away. Learn to adjust by listening to music. That's what you bought the cartridge for, that's how you should adjust it.
/rant
|
If people are still reading me, I just want to ask Hfisher:
have you ran the lateral and vertical resonance test?
Side 2 track 2 and 3.
If not, please run it and tell me what your results are.
They both should be around 10Hz.
I have ran the 2 tests and I found out that without any extra weight they are both on the 16Hz which is not quite right.
I guess I will have to look into the stanless steel armtube.
Let me know. |
Just a little updat.
I have re-set the eight down to 2gr and lower the antiskate so just enough to get the 12dB's one thus the 14dB is not distorting.
Sound is ver clean dynamic and crisp.
Harmonics are comning through.
The funny thing is that I hear less distortion that when I had it set up for the 14dB's one.
I will hopefully do more listening in the next days.
But anyways it is true that ZYX works properly at 2gr. |
gotcha.
The I was correct, I understood you tracked the 12dB's but you posted something here that sounded like you were unable to track any of the 3 tracks.
If you then track the 12dB, how bad is the distortion on the 14db's?
Is it on both channel? Lots of distortion?
I have now 99% good on the 14dB's. One ch is perfect while the other one is juuusstt the little top cres.
But since I don't have any powerful antiskate install I can't go any further but since you have the AS system you shouldn't have problem to get this one 100% right. |
To be clear, I do track the first (12dB) track completely clean but get mistracking on the second (14dB) track. Optimal antiskate to decrease this mostly right channel distortion seems to be between 2.5 and 3 on the SME dial.
I agree with you - something must be amiss - just can't quite figure out what it is!
In the meantime the overall sound is excellent so I put up with the occasional mistracking towards the end of sides of a few LPs. |
Yeah it won't affect that much, I do agree.
What affect the most is the VTF/AS.
It is really strange though.
I can tell you right now: it is not a matter of brake in if you don't track the first nor the second (12dB, 14dB)
I bet you have distortion.
I had some little distortion too when I didn't have the AS right at least for the 12dB's.
After I got that one going the improvement was huge.
I will probably try to re-lower the VTF down to 2gr though and see...not sure yet |
I agree with you - it doesn't seem right. As I've said I've checked, rechecked etc everything. I'm currently tracking at 2g with antiskate set to 2g. It does better on the tracking test with heavier VTF and more antiskate - for e.g. 2.5g and 3 of antiskate - but then the overall sound isn't as good. Most user comments I've found seem to suggest somewhere between 1.8 and 2g gives the nicest sound with this line of ZYX cartridges so I've compromised on 2g. I just hope that things do eventually "settle in".
As for azimuth, unfortunately the SME arms don't have any real azimuth adjustment so no real room to play with this. However earlier this week I did have a "consultant" with some fancy kind of measure and my azimuth appears bang on. Besides, I find it hard to believe that improper azimuth would affect tracking to that degree.
Anyways, I still am in the dark about exactly what is going on... |
P.S. eheheh I just saw from your profile that you are from Canada .... never mind them :) |
Hfisher,
that sounds strange though.
If you have sme V and antiskate on you should be able to pass at least the first two tracks.
I don't know about the third.
I personally don't hear any mistracking anymore after the last regulation.
Please check better you alignment with MintLP, because you should be able to easily pass the 12dB and also the 14dB's one.
I have read that 100hrs are required for the cartridge to fully brake in.
But anyways I am sure your cartridge is not defective and neither is your tonearm, so I assume you should check better your alignment and the VTF/AS's combo.
Do you have an oscilloscope to scope the output taken from your phono's output?
Last, have you checked your azimuth with a precise DVM and track n.5 of side 2?
That is important too.
I live in Wisconsin if perhaps we are close that would be cool. |
thank you very much for your comments.
Based on what you said I will let the cartridge loosen up for anther 20hrs (i.e. 2-3 weeks or less hopefully)
BTW the sound has changed quite a bit in these last 5 hrs.
I think I am up to 25-28hrs so it is too early.
The only thing I am concerned though is the tracking force I am dialing in.
I had increased it up to 2.35gr right now and it seems to be better on the tracking test in fact that's how I get the 14dB's.
Listening shows a better tracking and more details although a bit less of air but all in all very balanced.
I don't hear any mistracking except with the harmonia mundi's.
I will put that record back in in a couple of weeks and see what's changed.
BTW What is the tracking force that worked the best for you? |
That's what I keep on telling myself - hopefully my patience will eventually pay off. In the meantime I am on my second UNIverse cartridge and for some reason continue to have the right channel mistracking issue. Again the first one was a used cartridge which was advertised as having 75 hours on it so it should have theoretically been broken in and I traded it in towards a new one thinking that perhaps it was defective. The second one continues to have the same issue despite 75-100 hours or so. I've tried everything - two tonearms, three turntables, all kinds of VTA, VTF and antiskating adjustments, alignment and realignment with both the SME jig and a MintLP protractor, adding mass to the headshell, making sure turntable and tonearm are level, etc, etc...still the same issue. And as I've said the sound is otherwise so good that I'm just prepared to live with it and hope that it settles in for the time being. But all I know is that my other cartridge (a well-used Ortofon Kontrapunkt B which costs 1/3 as much) tracks the first three tracking tests on the HiFi new test LP and I never heard any mistracking on regular records - the UNIverse doesn't appear to pass either of these tests. Of course other than the occasional tracking issue on certain particularly challenging LPs the UNIverse sounds night and day better than the Ortofon.
Out of curiosity, how many hours are required for proper break-in? |
@Stefanoo: Yep, how all five LPs in the series.
BTW, the ZYX is a darn good tracker. It handles two of the hardest cartridge tracking tests I know of on LP without pausing-the original Saul Goodman Mallets, Melody and Mayhem on Columbia and Ameniya's Summer Prayer on RCA/Japan. The former album has some bells that most cartridges run away from; the latter has all types of percussion cut at some pretty high levels that doesn't faze the ZYX. So sit tight and let the cartridge loosen up.
Listen--I thought my copy of one of the Music Matters jazz lps was defective when I played it with a relatively new Titan i. It mistracked like a mother and the LP sounded defective. Emailed Ron and then had to tell him that it turned out to be the cartridge :( After the Titan i was broken in, no problem playing this LP.
Patience, and what audiophile has any, is definitely a virtue :)
Myles |
yes it is the Carmina Burana Vol 2 Harmonia Mundi on LP.
It is very nice but I can hear distortion, I mean it doesn't come through perfectly clear all the time.
I assume it is my tracking though.
But I have listen to the Carmina Burana on Telarc LP and I can never hear any kind of distortion.
After my last regulation I have gotten 99% right the 14dB track by untwisting the connector a little and increasing tracking force up to 2.35gr.
I decided I will follow your advice and let it run for other 15-20hrs and see how it goes from there.
BTW do you have carmina burana n Harmonia mundi?
Now to answer to John:
of course my denon and Rega didn't sound like this.
My concern is that by regulating the AS and tracking force precisely enough to get up to the 12dB's one I heard a big step forward and so did I when I got up to the 14dB's.
This tells me that there is a correlation between test tracks and sound, but that is not everything.
BTW I do listen to music too :) |
So your old rega 300 and 103 tracked better than the VPI/ZYX, the main question is did they sound better? I have a Denon receiver that measures better than my VAC amp, but somehow my VAC amp sounds better......go figure.
I don't have any tracking issues with my Basis/ZYX 4D, but then again, I listen to music LP's, not test LP's.
Cheers,
John |
Stefanoo-Believe me the tracking will get much better! Much, much better!!! Just play the cartridge for another 20-25 hrs and don't get insane about it :) (this is true for the last three cartridges I've listened to including the Titan i, Air Tight PC-1 and the Zyx).
Then you can start dialing the cartridge in. BTW, the sound is also going to change quite a bit if the Universe is like the Omega (that I believe is).
As far as the Carmina Burana goes: I assume you're referring to the Harmonia Mundi recordings (there are five discs in the series) on LP? Actually they are all quite good-with 2 probably the best.
Best,
Myles |
a little update.
I have reached out the 14dB track.
In order to do that I had to untwist the external wire a lot and there are only few twists left therefore I won't go any further.
I am wondering whether I am ruining the external wire by doing that or not.
I don't see any other way to get up there without doing so.
The next track i.e. the 16dB is unreachable though and I can't even have the needle laid a second because I see such a bad distortion on both ch that I am afraid for it.
So I think this is it.
yet, my old rega 300 and the cheap 103 where able to easily step up to 16dB.
Now I am curious to check, after this adjustment, if I can still hear distortion on the carimna burana's one. |
I just want to outline an incredible pressing that you guys can look into as very hard test for your analogue system:
Carmina Burana volume 2 - Version originale & intégrale
When I put this record on, you can tell the incredible dynamic of it.
The only problem with my configuration is that I hear distortion on the most engaging parts and now I know it is the tracking abilities of the system that starts bothering me since there is a $4500 on cartridge and almost $4500 TT (Classic, SDS, Peripheral, HRX Clamp) plus there are even more so in cables (Mit Magnum Phono and Magnums M3.3 interconnects and Shotguns S1 BiWire speaker) and more in electronics and speakers.
All in all this tracking thing starts getting into my nervs because I personally don't expect tracking problems from such hi-end system.
The sound is really great and I bet since the price of the items, but technically speaking something better can be done!
Just a question to users of VPI and ZYX: do you have stainless steel armtube or Aluminum?
I actually don't know if my armtube is aluminum or stainless steel, how can I distinguish which one I have?
If anybody owns the record I outlined (Carmina Burana Harmonia Mundi HM336) and can tell me if they hear distortion or not I would appreciate.
I would like to work this out as there is no way that VPI and ZYX are designed so poorly. |
Hi,
it has little hours.
Something like 15-20hrs.
I personally don't think the brake in is going to make that difference though.
Also because, Hfisher has the same problem on SMEV and I suppose cart is fully broken in.
My question is: have you checked the tracking with a LP test and oscilloscope?
Or if you don't have an oscilloscope but you do have a LP test, you are able to listen through your speaker and discern whether the cart is tracking or not.
By chance, do you have the mechanical antiskate on?
If not, have you untwist the lemo connector a couple f turns to increase antiskate or you installed it as it comes and that's it?
Last question: what do you use to align your cart? Mint LP or normal jig and what is the tracking forec you have set? |
@Mark: I'm using the ZYX Omega-S Gold LO cartridge right now in a VPI JMW10.5i arm with no problems at all.
@Stefanoo: How many hours do you have on the cartridge? I've found with most new cartridges that they don't track real well until they have at least 50 hrs of playing under their stylus. |
right....I saw your post here and I was referring to you.
A question though:
I assume that sme has an antiskating system on the arm.
Do you have it down to zero or set?
I personally start thinking that ZYX are so particular that they are meant to be this way.
Nevertheless after I got the 12dB right and increased tracking force to 2.15gr I don't hear any mre noticeable mistracking..but all in all I have been listening to it for few hours.
I will definitely keep you guys postet on the eventual progress.
BTW speaking with Mike from VPI he told me that I should be able to get the 14dB and 16dB's one..but I don't know if he was being optimistic or what :)
I will find that out hopefully next week. |
Funny - your problems sound EXACTLY like mine with my UNIverse - I'm the guy who posted about the SME and Graham arms. I'm mostly using it in the SME V which of course is not a unipivot arm and my tracking results are exactly the same as yours - with distortion coming in the right channel no matter how high I track and how high I set the antiskating. I also hear occasional mistracking on normal records - more commonly towards the end of the side and most common with either dynamic piano or female vocals. On the other hand - I concur with you on the cartridges incredible ability to extract detail - I just wonder if there's anything I can do to improve tracking and extract even more distortion-free detail!
Please do keep us posted - especially if you find some sort of solution. Goodness knows I've tried EVERYTHING and basically just "given up" and put up with occasional mistracking... |
Hi Mark,
thanks for your post.
If have noted there is another user that had the same exact result but using a SME and Gra tonearms.
Neither one of them is unipivot.
So I guess it is not the toneare none is the matching since I have ran resonance (later and vertical) test and it is withing range.
The sound in outstanding, don't get me wrong.
I am just trying to understand if there is way to match the test tracks ot not.
I am starting to think that ZYX are designed not to track those tracks...I don't know it is something strange.
If the cartridge is extracting a Looott of details and information, why can't it track those test tracks that instead my old rega and denon did with much less retrivial information and detail and everything.
I will probably try damping fluid too.
Thank you for your tip. |
What I wonder then, is where does the blame for such get placed? Is it then the sole fault of the Cartridge, the possibility of a mismatch of Arm Mass-Cartridge, or is it perhaps also a fault of the Arm design, being a Unipivot?
I know Myles previously mentioned the attributes of the use of a Damping Fluid being nothing more than a bandaid, and he is probably correct with this classification.
I know a number of times, Doug Deacon had made mention of not liking ZYX with Unipivot Arms, and I seem to recall the term used by him in his listening tests as "wooly".
Would/could this what Doug is perhaps getting at, because of the Unipivot Design, its lack of being able to be a compliment, and compatible to such a Cartridge?
It was the initial reason I suggested to perhaps try Damping the Arm slightly. Might be worth a try, and the results can always be easily reversed if not favorable. Mark |
Now, I tested the system with 3-4 gr on the headshell.
Tracking is a little bit improved.
By Increasing tracking force up to 2.1gr I am tracking clearly one ch of the 14dB's while the other ch is in distortion due to lack of antiskate force.
I tried to compensate untwisting the wire on the lemo connector.
Situation improves on the 12dB's and a little on the 14dB's but not enough to let me track that one.
The most "interesting" thing I found are the 3 spaced tracks at 15dB.
I cannot track any of them, of course, since the maximum I can track, I guess, is 12dB BUT while the 1th and 4th track are distorted but still they are coming through somehow, on the last one the pick up won't even try to stay on the grooves but it will skip directly to the end.
That is really bad. It shows lack of ability to track grooves.
I don't know what else is left to do in order to improve this aspect! |
Hi,
thanks for the advice.
I did know they make this extra base.
The pick up has already one that takes it from 5gr up to 7.9gr.
I wouldn't like to add any other external body i.e. any more resonance, if it was possible.
If test with clay will go good then I will definitely go for the stainless steel's armtube.
I will keep you guys posted. |
Stefano, have you seen this?It's made by VPI, and sounds like it may help. Cheers, John |
Ok I just got off the phone with Mike from VPI.
First of all, all the honors to this company and the guy.
The best courtesy ever experienced very knowlegdable of what he talks about, of course :)
Now, he said that
1) when measuring the weight on the gauge, always make sure that the armtube is parallel to the platter when pick up sits on the gauge. if not, when the pick up will go down to the record will likely track 0.2gr or so lighter.
2) since the ZYXs like universe or atmos or 4d are very light and even with their silver base's option they won't reach let's say 10grm, the problem is on the weight and resonance of the system. So what I should try is, putting 3-4 gr of clay and rebalance the arm and see if I can get to the second and third track...which I should supposedly get right.
Hope this hels me and everybody else with my same problem.
P.S. for VPI's users it might be better using a stainless steel armtube instead of aluminum when mounting a ZYX |
well Hfisher...you have the very same problem I have.
I can only track the first one.
It seems very strange to me.
my LOMC Denon was capable on the Rega 300 to track 12dB,14dB, 16dB...BUT.....I had MUCH more mistracking that I do have with this cartridge and sound was miles away from ZYX and VPI.
So all in all...it might be true that there isn't a strict correlation between test records and music, otherwise, since Denon almost tracked the 18dB's the sound should have been galactic and no distortion would have ever been heard.
I would like to investigate this further on though.
I am going to call VPI now and I want to hear their opinion, then I will post the conversation to keep you all up-dated. |
@Mark: I can't think of any good reason to use damping fluid with the ZYX. If you do, there's real problems elsewhere in the system. The ZYX Omega S LO works wonderfully in the VPI 10.5i arm.
I also wonder what you mean by lengthy break-in? 50 hrs? 100 hrs? I find that sort of time normal with all MC cartridges that I've had. The ZYX needs time like all cartridges but one really begins to hear what it is capable of, by 50 hrs.
Damping is at best a crutch IMHO--or the cure is worse than the disease.
Myles Astor |
